Composting to save the planet

Sun-Mar Composting Toilets:

I know, this just does'nt seem right. Why in the world would you want one of these in your house? Well it turns out there are countless reasons for installing a composting toilet. Imagine you own a house with an aging septic system. The cost to replace one of these is sky rocketing. States, cities and towns are getting more and more particular about how big and how expensive these have to be. We have had several customers in the last year decide that composting was a better choice. For a fraction of the cost of a new septic system the composting toilet will extend the life of your existing system well into the future.

That is just one of the reasons customers choose composting toilets. Here are a few more: You are building some office space in a barn and don’t want to run water to a bathroom but really want a toilet. You own a camp and have grown weary of the outhouse, or the town won’t let you improve your out house, or for that matter even have one any more. You live in an environmentally sensitive area where septic systems would be prohibitively expensive or there is ledge as far as the eye can see.

The truth about composting toilets is that they work incredibly well, don’t smell and require very little maintenance. Composting toilets are vented just like conventional toilets are and can also include fans to increase ventilation, and heaters to increase evaporation. They come in sizes small enough for boats and motor homes and large enough for large family homes. They can be self contained or have conventional looking toilets in the bathrooms attached to a large composter in the basement.

There are any number of reasons to consider a composting toilet, and no downsides at all. While we might be squeamish thinking about them, the reality is that they are clean, odorless and a great environmental choice.

 

Worm Composters - Composting with 1000 new pets

I know, it seems weird having 1000 or more worms living in the kitchen but it is amazing what they produce. These little buggers eat an amazing amount of food and leave behind some very productive stuff.

First the liquid that drains to the bottom of the composter makes our house plants go crazy. If you recall the plant from Little Shop of Horrors you can almost hear them screaming FEED ME when you drain that rich dark liquid from the bottom of the composter. Who needs fish oil when you can have worm pee!

The composter is built in three tiers. You start out filling the bottom level. Once that is full, you move to the next level up. Those little buggers are smart enough to know that the food is upstairs so they crawl up through the bottom of the next level to feed. When level two is full, you start filling level three. Once you are well into level three, level one is mostly free of worms. You can remove level one and spread the most amazing looking material on your garden. Their waste is rich, moist black compost full of valuable nutrients. Once you empty level one, it becomes the new level three. So you just keep rotating the levels around.

Now, you might ask, why would you want this thing in your kitchen? Well, they need to be kept warm first and foremost. And it’s more convenient than the basement. Second, despite what we expected the thing does not smell at all unless you make one critical mistake. Any time you put food in this thing, it needs to be covered. Wet newspaper, wet pizza delivery boxes, etc. is one way to do this, and they will consume the newspaper as well. We found that a bit cumbersome but peat moss has proven to be the perfect thing. Each time we put in some scraps we sprinkle enough peat to cover up the food. This eliminates any odor.

Again, if you keep the food covered you will have no odors, no fruit flies and amazing compost. But once you start be careful not to turn your back on those house plants. They could get pretty demanding. We’re really looking forward to next year’s rhododendron season - they’re basking in vermiculture over winter.

seacoast energy can-o-worms composter sunmar composting toilet

Sun-Mar Excel, NE.

CAN-O-WORMS

sun-mar garden composter

Sun-Mar Garden Composter